Seven ways to upsell with chemistry

1. Revive your detail shop menu and signage to push add-on chemical services like tire shine and total car protectant. Your largest package should be at the top of your menu and show that it offers every service you have. Other packages should follow and highlight what they lack in respect to the top offering.

2. Create a monthly special that highlights the up-sell. For example, make January your “Undercarriage Wash Month” and offer undercarriage wash as an add-on to any package for $3. The special can change throughout the year to highlight seasonal concerns, like love bugs or pollen, or it can simply push services which may need a boost, like tire shine.

3. Train your cashiers and detail technicians to mention additional chemical services to monthly club/loyalty program members as an inexpensive way to improve their regular wash service. For $2 more, they can have Rain-X with their usual Monday wash.

4. Appeal to your customer’s senses with tri-foam offerings that emphasize their effectiveness with scent and sight. The pink color and cherry smell aren’t actually improving the science of the chemical, but your customer will associate those scents/sights with your carwash and relate them to a clean car, as well.

5. Don’t forget their green sensibilities. Push eco-friendly options at the top of your menu and highlight their advantages to the environment with your signage and lobby pamphlets.

6. Do you have auto cashiers? Consider showing a short video which emphasizes the benefits of a spray wax or other additional chemical services. An educated customer is a happy customer.

7. Feature signage throughout your lot which explains all of your additional chemical service offerings. This signage should be featured prominently in self-serve bays, just outside the automatic tunnel, and in pamphlets laid out in your lobby or on posters hanging in the hall.